LAUKEL FAMILY. 519 



Alabama : Central Prairie region to Coast plain. Swampy alluvial forests. Mont- 

 gomery, Escambia, Baldwin, and Mobile counties. Flowers white, June; fruit pur- 

 plish black (plum purple), September, October. Tree 60 to 70 feet high. Appears 

 to be in the Gulf region less frequent than in the South Atlantic States. Full-sized 

 trees rarely met with. 



Type locality : " Hab. in Carolina, Virginia." 



Economic uses: Timber tree. 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



Persea pubescens (Pursh) Sargent, Silv. N. A. 5 : 7, t. 302. 1895. Swamp Red Bay. 



Laurus caroUnensis rav. pubescens Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 1 : 276. 1814. 



Pet-sea carolinensis xav.palustris Chap. Fl. 393. 1860. 



Chap. Fl. 1. c. 



Louisiauian area. North Carolina along the coast region to Florida and Missis- 

 sippi. 



Alabama : Lower Pine region. Coast plain. Alluvial river swamps and pine- 

 barren ponds. Mobile, Baldwin, and Escambia counties. Flowers white, June; 

 fruit purplish black, October. 



Shrubby in poor sandy pine barrens; on rich borders of streams and in alluvial 

 forests a tree from 50 to 60 feet high and 12 to 16 inches in diameter, or frequently a 

 large shrub. 



Type locality: "In deep cedar and cypress swamps: Virginia to Louisiana." 



Economic uses: Valuable for the wood. 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



SASSAFRAS Nees & Eberm. Handb. Ph. Bot. 2 : 418. 1831. 



One species, temperate North America. 

 Sassafras sassafras (L.) Karst. Deutsch. Fl. 505. 1882. Sassafras. 



Laiirus sassafras L. Sp. PL 1 : 371. 1753. 



Sassafras officinale Nees & Eberm. Handb. Ph. Bot. 2 : 418. 1831. 



Ell. Sk. 1 : 464. Gray, Man. ed. 6, 447. Chap. Fl. 394. Coulter, Contr. Nat. Herb. 

 2 : 383. 



Alleghenian to Louisianian area. Ontario ; eastern Massachusetts to southeastern 

 Iowa and eastern Kansas, south to western Florida, aud through the Gulf States to 

 the Brazos Valley, Texas, Indian Territory, and Arkansas. 



Alabama: Throughout the State. Light and rich soil. Woodlands and in the 

 open; of best development in the rich forests of the Tennessee Valley and upper 

 Alabama River. Flowers yellowish, April. Fruit purplish black, September, 

 October. 



On poor soil rarely above medium size; in rich bottom lands 70 to 80 feet high and 

 2 feet in diameter. 



Economic uses: Timber tree. The bark of the root is used medicinally — "Sassa- 

 fras," United States Pharmacopoiia. 



Type locality: '' Hab. iu Virginia, Carolina, Florida." 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



BENZOIN Fabr. Enum. PL Hort. Helmst. 1763. Pond Spice. 

 (LiNDERA Thunb. Diss. Nov. Gen. 3 :44. 1783.) 



Ten species. Eastern Asia. Eastern North America, 2. 



Benzoin benzoin (L.) Coulter, Mem. Torr. Club, 5 : 164. 1894. 



Spicewood. Feverbush. 



Laurus benzoin, L. Sp. PL 1 : 370. 1753. 



Benzoin aestivale and B. odoriferum Nees, Syst. 495. 1832. 



Hndera benzoin Blume, Mus. Bot. Lugd. 1 : 324. 1857. 



Ell. Sk. 1:163, Gray, Man. ed. 6, 447. Chap. Fl. 394. Coulter, Contr. Nat. Herb. 

 2:383. 



Alleghenian to Louisianian area. Ontario; eastern Massachusetts west to Michi- 

 gan and Missouri, south to Florida and central Texas. 



Alabama: Tennessee Valley to Central Prairie region. Low shady woods. Madi- 

 son, Hale, and Wilcox counties. Flowers greenish, March. Fruit scarlet, Septem- 

 ber. Shrub 4 to 6 feet high. Not rare in the prairie region. 



Type locality : "Hab. in Virginia." 



Herb. Geol. Surv. Herb. Mohr. 



